OUR BABIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22826, 10 March 1936, Page 15

OUR BABIES

By Htoeia.

Publtihed under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for tho Health of Women and Children (Plunk*t Society). "It ia enteer to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.* DIFFICULTIES AT WEANING TIME. Many mothers and babies go through a very trying time at the weaning period—indeed, the struggle is sometimes heartrending for both —and although the majority of babies go through this period without “turning a hair,” it is wise for every mother to plan her campaign intelligently and well ahead. Forethought and understanding will usually prevent difficulties arising and will do much to minimise any that do come. The article which follows was written by Sister Raymond (of the London Mothercraft Training Centre) in the Nursery World. We feel sure it will be interesting and helpful to our own readers. Sister Raymond says : “A GREAT ADJUSTMENT. “If we remember what a great adjustment is being asked of baby at this time we shall be more helpful in guiding him. We know that some babies hardly notice the change. It may be that they will he the people who all through life will find it easy to jump from one change to another, who will always greet the unknown with a ‘cheer’; it may be that the baby who finds weaning time so difficult will grow into the man who finds it harder to change his customs and habits than to lose a limb, who will always be ‘conservative’; or it may be that the nature finds it peculiarly difficult to leave a ‘prop,’ and so very specially needs wise help at each step towards independence. “NEW WAYS DIFFICULT. “ I think it does help us in our dealings with baby if we understand_ that it is not mere naughtiness, not obstinacy, but because his nature is as it is, that any change or new way of dealing with life is extremely difficult. “We remember, too, that it is the first step towards independence. For all these nine months he has had the warmth and contact of nursing, and this has been associated with the satisfying of his hunger. We are now going to ask him to give up the pleasure of sucking, the comfort of, warmth of his mother’s body, and the satisfaction of contact with it. As a substitute he is being offered a fluid with a different taste, he is asked to swallow instead of snick, and the comfort of nursing is denied him. _ It does mean a big wrench, doesn’t it ? By their love and understanding some mothers and nurses have been able to think of ways to help baby over these difficult days. “ One mother’s carefully-thought-out plan was this : For some weeks before weaning she sat baby in his chair for his usual water or fruit juice drink at 5 p.m., giving it to him then from a cup. When she started weaning, instead of taking the child on her lap she sat him in his chair, and he took the whole feed f rom a cup, making no difficulty over it. “It is always a help not to have the child on the lap. because naturally that position is associated with feeding from the breast. For the same reason the mother is better out of the room if there is someone else to give the artificial feed; hut, again, it is better if this ‘ someone ’ is known to the child and has given water drinks previously. “Another mother ‘expressed’ milk for the 2 p.m. feed for a week before the actual milk mixture was started, and gave this from a cup while baby sat in his own chair. “DRINKING FROM_ A CUP. “ Most babies of this age are capable of holding, at at any rate helping to hold, a small cun. and sometimes the fact of holding it himself makes a great difference. Just a very small quantity of milk mixture it put into it at a time, partly to avoid .gulping and choking and partly to keep the cup tight in his hold. A cream jug with a wide spout is often better than a cup, or a small Ideal feeding cup can be tried. “ When there is difficulty it is enough to skip one of tho changes, so that baby becomes hungry and thirsty, and so ready to accept the new food.

“Just very occasionally a baby really 'plays up,’ and it is definitely his will against the adult will. One feels that this stage should never have been reached, hut when it is, the kindest way for his sake is to give him nothing but water for a day. By Hie end of that time (ho pangs of hunger will almost certainly have made him willing to accept the new food for his 10 p.m. feed. The taking of the feed means the end of the struggle, and thereafter all is peace — for him as well as for you.

“THERE SHOULD BE NO FIGHT. “Make up your mind quite determinedly that baby is to he weaned. Make your plan and stick to it. Baby will ‘sense’ your determination, and this will help him. Giving in to him, even for one feed, will lengthen and strengthen the fight. “ But what I am begging for is that there should be no fight—that by forethought the way from complete dependence will gradually be formed. Any new taste or new way of eating will help baby. At an early age water drinks between feeds, at six months beginning to learn to drink from a cup, at six months the well-scraped chicken bone or mutton cutlet bone to gnaw, at nine months the hard crusts before feeds—all these steps have gradually been accustoming him to accepting new tastes in new ways. . . .

“ Before weaning starts added outside interests should be given him. He can have toys with different shapes and sounds, which he can hotfl and rattle, and crawling should be encouraged. In these ways the new phase will come naturally, with no_ psychological harm to baby. These outside interests help him to leave the old dependent state gladly, and there will be no occasion for the starting of bad habits, such as finger

sucking, rubbing, etc., which are really only his way of satisfying himself when deprived one one pleasure without being given the right and natural interests in place of it. “Although encouraging the child in the independence which it _ must acquire, ‘ mothering ’ is of special importance, as on no account must the child have the feeling of being suddenly stranded. It is indeed well worth while to use piuch thought and tact in helping baby over this first ‘jump,’ as his reaction to it may colour his whole life. “A GRADUAL CHANGE.

“For the sake of both mother and baby the change should, if possible, be a gradual one, each week one artificial feed being substituted for one breast feed. In this way baby’s digestion is gradually taught to digest the new food, bis physical contact with his mother is gradually broken, and the mother is spared pain and discomfort when the weaning is finished. “If for any reason it is necessary to make a sudden change from breast milk to modified cow’s milk, the latter should be boiled .for 15 to 20 minutes for the first three days, as this long boiling will make it more easily digested. In this case the mother would find it necessary to 'get rid of her milk more quickly, and she could do so by restricting her fluids, taking a dose of Epsom salts every morning, and, if more were needed, by completely emptying her breasts with a breast pump and then bandaging them with a wide flannel bandage. This bandage would have to be left on for about three days, night and day. “Normally the time taken over weaning should be about five weeks, but it may take longer, because if for any reason (e.g., teething) the baby’s condition is not altogether satisfactory, it is best to stop at that stage until the upset is over.”